liance of the Goths and Theoderic. And since
Theoderic wished to attach these peoples to himself, he did not refuse
to intermarry with them. Accordingly he betrothed to Alaric the younger,
who was then leader of the Visigoths, his own unmarried daughter
Theodichusa, and to Hermenefridus, the ruler of the Thuringians,
Amalaberga, the daughter of his sister Amalafrida. As a result of this
the Franks refrained from violence against these peoples through fear of
Theoderic, but they began a war against the Burgundians. But later on
the Franks and the Goths entered into an offensive alliance against the
Burgundians, agreeing that each of the two should send an army against
them; and it was further agreed that if either army should be absent
when the other took the field against the nation of the Burgundians and
overthrew them and gained the land which they had, then the victors
should receive as a penalty from those who had not joined in the
expedition a fixed sum of gold, and that only on these terms should the
conquered land belong to both peoples in common. So the Germans went
against the Burgundians with a great army according to the agreement
between themselves and the Goths; but Theoderic was still engaged with
his preparations, as he said, and purposely kept putting off the
departure of the army to the following day, and waiting for what would
come to pass. Finally, however, he sent the army, but commanded the
generals to march in a leisurely fashion, and if they should hear that
the Franks had been victorious, they were thenceforth to go quickly, but
if they should learn that any adversity had befallen them, they were to
proceed no farther, but remain where they were. So they proceeded to
carry out the commands of Theoderic, but meanwhile the Germans joined
battle alone with the Burgundians.[P] The battle was stubbornly
contested and a great slaughter took place on both sides, for the
struggle was very evenly matched; but finally the Franks routed their
enemy and drove them to the borders of the land which they inhabited at
that time, where they had many strongholds, while the Franks took
possession of all the rest. And the Goths, upon hearing this, were
quickly at hand. And when they were bitterly reproached by their allies,
they blamed the difficulty of the country, and laying down the amount of
the penalty, they divided the land with the victors according to the
agreement made. And thus the foresight of Theoderic was